Let's Rock: Apple Unveils New iPods, Genius Playlists, HDTV, NBC

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Let's Rock: Apple Unveils New iPods, Genius Playlists, HDTV, NBC

By Mark McClusky

SAN FRANCISCO – Apple Inc. emphasized its leadership in the digital music market this morning at an event in San Francisco, as CEO Steve Jobs introduced new models of its most popular iPod music players, as well as a new version of the company's iTunes media management software.

The revised version of the iPod Touch and iPod Nano, as well as iTunes 8 all include a new feature called "Genius," which Apple touts as an easy way to create playlists based on the song you're listening to and the music in your library.

The fourth-generation iPod Nano is the thinnest player Apple has ever made, at just 0.2 inches thick. It returns to the portrait orientation of the first two generations of the Nano, while preserving the same screen size as last year's third-generation model. Additionally, there is now an accelerometer built into the Nano, which allows for instant resizing of photos and menus based on the orientation of the player, just like the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The accelerometer is also used for a new "Shake to shuffle" feature, which senses when you shake your player, and automatically enters the shuffle mode. Apple also touted the environmental chops of the new player: "We think these are the cleanest, toxic-free iPods we've ever built," said Jobs. The nano will ship in eight colors which are much brighter than the previous finishes, and are rated to play 24 hours of music or four hours of video on a single charge. Two models will be sold: $149 for an 8-GB model, $199 for 16 GB. They should be available in the next week.

Touting it as the "funnest iPod ever," Jobs introduced the new iPod Touch with a heavy emphasis on its gaming capabilities. The revised iPod Touch features a curved back that's reminiscent of the iPhone 3G, but using stainless steel like previous iPod Touch models. Volume controls are now integrated onto the side of the unit, answering one of the main criticisms of the first version of the player, and there is now a built-in speaker ("Not for audiophiles," warned Jobs). Also built in to the new touch is the sensor for the popular Nike + iPod system. Previous iPods have required users to attach a receiver to the iPod, but with the touch, you simply get the shoe attachment, and activate the included software. Battery life is rated at 36 hours of music and six hours of video. There will be three models: 8 GB for $229, 16 GB for $299, and 32 GB for $399. All three of the new iPod touch models are available starting today, as is a software update for previous iPod touch owners. The update is free for users who already have the 2.0 version, and $9.95 for users with version 1.x.

Apple also announced two new sets of headphones – a set of dual driver earbuds for $79, and a set of earbuds for $29 that feature an on-cord control for the player, as well as a microphone which works with a built-in voice recorder application on the Nano. The company also announced a new version of the iPod classic, which holds 120 GB for $249.

The iPhone will also be updated to software version 2.1. "It fixes a lot of bugs," said Jobs, saying that it will result in fewer call drops, better stability, and faster backups. The iPhone 2.1 update will be available on Friday.

On the content front, Apple announced that the iTunes store will begin selling television shows in high-definition. HD shows will cost $2.99 per episode; standard-def shows will still be $1.99. Also, shows from NBC will return to the store, resolving a long-running dispute between the network and Apple.

iTunes 8 will also be the hub for Apple's new recommendation engine, Genius. The program transmits information about your library to Apple anonymously, along with information from all other iTunes users who opt into the Genius service.

Over time, the system will gather more and more information from the 65 million users of iTunes and refine its recommendations. New information will be sent to users once a week as the algorithm evolves. Additionally, Genius will suggest purchases to fill out what it identifies as holes in your music library.